Improvement in hinges



J. S. LASH.

4 HINGE; No. 190,343. Patented Mayl, 1877.

UNITED STATES PATENT DFFICE.

JOHN S. LASH, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN HINGES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 190,343, dated May 1,1877; application filed December 22, 1876.

. clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part ofthis specification, in which the figure is a perspective of myinvention.

My invention has for its object to provide means for relieving thestrain usually imposed on the screws by which .the hinge is fastened tothe door and frame. A further ohjectof my invention is to provide meansfor facilitating the facing of the recesses on the door and frame inwhich the leaves of the hinge rest.

My invention consists in grooving, corrugating, or otherwise rougheningthe back of the hinge-leaves, so that the same will be partly held intheir recesses by adhesion or traction, the ribs or corrugationsindenting the wood, and thereby holding to the same in such manner as torelieve the strain imposed upon the retaining-screws, as will behereinafter more fully described and definitely claimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, A A show the leaves of abutt-hinge having my improvements applied, said improvements beingequally applicable to all hinges made by casting metal, not beingparticularly intended for strap or other hinges made of wrought metal.

The back of the leaves are grooved, corrugated, or ribbed, as shown at aa, the former showing the elevations or ridges, and the latter thedepressions.

I prefer to produce the roughened back of said leaves by formingvertical ribs and grooves, as shown in the drawing, but my invention isnot limited to such formation, as the ribs may he made horizontally oroblique- 1y; or other forms of elevationsuch, for illustration, as thefaces or rubbing-surfaces of various kinds of files presentmay besubstituted for said ribs.

The utility of such roughened backs may be briefly set forth as follows:In fastening hinges to doors and frames it is usual to cut in the wood,by the aid of a chisel, a recess for each leaf, so that the front of theleaves will, when inserted, be flush with the edge of the door and withthe face of the frame. The chisel-cut is usually rather roughly made inthe first instance, and has to be carefully faced or smoothed, in orderto cause the hinge-leaves to fit snugly and truly. To facilitate thisfacing I insert the hinge-leaf in its recess as soon as the latter isfirst roughly out, as already set forth. I then strike the outside ofsaid leaf a smart blow with a hammer, causing the back of the same to beimpressed into the roughly-cut wood adjacent to it. On removing thehinge-leaf the projecting parts of the wood in the recess will be foundto bear the impression of the ridges on the back of the leaf. vBycutting away such projecting and impressed parts of the wood, Iaccomplish the facing of the recess, in which the hinge-leaf will thenfit snugly and truly.

After the facing of the recess has been accomplished, I restore the leafto its place in such recess, and, by means either of blows or by thepressure of the fastening-screws, cause said leaf to press so againstthe wood back of it'that the ribs or elevations will indent and enterthe fiber of the wood, the latter pass ing into the grooves of themetal.

By this means the fastening-screws are re lieved, in great measure, ofthe usual lateral and downward strain which the weight of the doorimposes, such strain being partly distributed over the whole back of thehinge, and being partially borne in its proportionate part by each ofthe ribs or elevations.

What I claim as my invention is As a new article of manufacture, a hingehaving a ribbed or roughened back, substantially as set forth, tofacilitate the facing of the wood to which such hinge is secured, and topartially relieve the fastening-screws of lateral and downward strain,as specified.

- In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my handthis 20th day of December, 1876.

t J OHN S. LASH.

Witnesses:

GEO. G. SHELMERDINE, M. DANL. GoNNoLLY.

